An off-duty Chicago police officer was found dead in an apparent suicide Thursday morning, officials said, making him at least the third officer from the department to take their own life within a week.
The officer was found dead at his Southwest Side home, police said. Chicago police spokesman Tom Ahern said the officer died by suicide, but an official ruling on the officer’s cause of death won’t come until Friday when an autopsy is performed at the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
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“Our officers repeatedly respond to traumatic incidents and are not immune to the pain and cruelty surrounding these incidents. They do this while balancing their own personal lives and difficulties,” Chicago police Superintendent David Brown said in a statement. “The recent tragedies we have faced are immensely devastating for the families and loved ones of those we have lost to suicide … I ask that the people of Chicago continue to keep all those affected in your prayers. I also ask that you take a moment to think about everything our officers give of themselves to do this job that many others wouldn’t.”
The death comes two days after another Chicago police officer died by suicide. She was assigned to the downtown and South Loop areas and was found dead in her Northwest Side home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She had five years on the job with the Chicago Police Department.
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Another Chicago cop, who had reportedly been inactive for over a decade, was found dead in her Northwest Side home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Dec. 15.
Overall, at least four Chicago police officers have died in the past week. On Monday, an officer was found unresponsive in his Northwest Side home, Ahern has said, but the cause of his death was inconclusive — following an autopsy at the medical examiner’s office — and pending further studies.
Well over a dozen Chicago police officers have taken their own lives since 2018, according to records and city officials.
In July, two Chicago police officers and one sergeant died by suicide. The July deaths led to calls for better mental health care for cops, and they also occurred at a time when CPD leaders came under criticism for having officers work too many days consecutively, as well as too many extended shifts.
After a late August report showed at least 1,000 officers had worked 11 or more consecutive days during the spring, Brown announced the department would implement new rules to help cops take time off.
jgorner@chicagotribune.com
